GDHQNHL15_2pg-New York Islanders 2

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old body, he and young Travis
Hamonic can be a solid pairing.
Hamonic is a tough guy on the
blue line and was a rarity last year,
registering a positive (albeit a plus-
2) rating last season.
Calvin de Haan and Matt
Donovan form a young tandem
with some potential. De Haan
emerged as a force on defense last
year, and the team is hoping the
23-year old continues to progress.
Meanwhile, Thomas Hickey was a
plus-five last year, while Brian Strait has a good shot and a sturdy frame
at the blue line.
The Islanders added T.J. Brennan, but he hasn’t seen much action
during his two years. Meanwhile it will be interesting to see what Griffin
Reinhart, the team’s number one pick in 2012 can do this year. He has
potential, but he may not be ready for regular work. Matt Carkner is 33
years old and brings great size (6-5, 233) to the equation. But he amassed
149 penalty minutes in just 53 games and is used more for his ability to
rough up opponents than to provide steady play in the defensive zone.
Expect him to fill in throughout the year and be ready to go when the
Hanson Brothers come to town.
Goaltending
Here’s how little the Islanders thought about last year’s threeman
goaltending rotation: Two of them are gone. The only one back,
Kevin Poulin, posted a poor, 3.29 goals-against average in 26 games,
so it’s reasonable to think that he will see limited time behind the
two new arrivals.
The Isles traded for the rights to Jaroslav Halak, who has represented
Slovakia in the past two Olympics and helped Montreal to the 2010
Eastern Conference final. Last year, with three teams, he had a 2.25 GAA
and a .921 save percentage, a definite improvement over everything New
York had last year. With the Blues, he had a 2.23 average and a 24-9-4
record. New York hopes he can shore up the net.
His backup is likely to be Chad Johnson, who posted a 2.10 GAA last
year and a 17-4-3 record, with a .925 save percentage. Don’t be surprised
if he gets a lot of work this season.
Power Play
Even though Tavares didn’t play after the Olympic break, he still
managed eight power-play goals, so there can be no questioning his value
on the advantage. Tavares can score well in those situations, but he is also
valuable setting up his teammates, so a full year of health should allow
him help bolster a unit whose 17.75% success rate last year wasn’t so hot.
Okposo and Nielsen scored five times each on the power play last
year, and Strome added four goals, but this is not a unit that puts a lot of
fear into opponents, even when Tavares is completely healthy. Grabovski
should be able to help here, since he scored 10 times on the man
advantage in 2010-11. He wasn’t so productive on the power play last
year, largely because the Washington unit was built around Alexander
Ovechkin. Kulemin had five goals in 2010-11 on the advantage while
with Toronto but hasn’t been much help there since.
Penalty Kill
The Islanders had the league’s second-worst penalty kill last year,
something that was compounded by the team’s 26th-place finish in
faceoff success. If
you can’t control the
puck, especially when
you are a man or two
down, things aren’t
going to go well. The
78.11 percent kill rate
was extremely poor,
although at least it
was substantially
better than the 76.33
number in 2009-10.
To fix things, the
Islanders hired Greg
Cronin as an assistant
coach. Cronin spent
the last three years
in Toronto, and head
man Jack Capuano
thinks he’ll fit in
well with the team’s
defensive philosophy.
There is no question
from anyone on the staff that things don’t need to get better. It should
help that the goaltending situation is expected to be better, but the
Islander forwards must be more aggressive on the kill, and the defense
has to be more stout, as well.
Prediction
The Islanders would love to bid farewell to the building that saw
so much success in the past with a big season, but the team
just doesn’t have the talent to do that. The defense is still shaky,
and there is not enough up front to allow New York to outscore
people. There should be some improvement but not enough for real
contention—or even a playoff berth.
Scoreboard
2013 2012 2011 2010 2009
PLAYOFF FINISH DNQ Conf QF DNQ DNQ DNQ
REGULAR SEASON 34-37-11 24-17-7 34-37-11 30-39-13 34-37-11
POINT TOTAL 79 55 79 73 79
SHOOTOUT RECORD 0-13 4-3 7-4 4-6 8-6
GOALS SCORED 225 139 203 229 222
GOALS ALLOWED 267 139 255 264 264
POWER PLAY % 17.75 19.87 18.52 17.22 16.01
PENALTY KILL % 78.11 80.28 80.51 83.23 76.33
John Tavares
Mike Stobe/NHL/Getty Images